An AWS Transfer Family alternative from €19 a month, not $216
AWS Transfer Family is solid, but an SFTP endpoint costs $0.30 an hour for each enabled protocol, around $216 a month before any data moves. CloudFile gives you SFTP, FTPS and FTP for a flat monthly price, and can still write straight into your S3 bucket.
CloudFile and AWS Transfer Family, side by side.
| Feature | CloudFile | AWS Transfer Family |
|---|---|---|
| Price | €19 / €59 / €179 a month (Starter / Pro / Business), excl. VAT. Yearly billing gives two months free. | $0.30 an hour per enabled protocol, about $216 per 30 days for SFTP alone, plus $0.04 per GB uploaded or downloaded (US East). S3 storage is billed separately. |
| Protocols | SFTP, FTPS, FTP and WebDAV | SFTP, FTPS, FTP and AS2. FTP only on internal VPC endpoints. |
| Storage | 10 GB / 250 GB / 1 TB included, or your own bucket | Amazon S3 or Amazon EFS in your AWS account |
| Bring your own bucket | Any S3-compatible bucket (S3, R2, B2, Wasabi, Hetzner, GCS, MinIO and more), on every plan | S3 and EFS in your AWS account only |
| Hosting | Hetzner, Germany (EU) | Any supported AWS region, including several in the EU |
| API | REST API at /api/v1 with an OpenAPI 3.1 spec and API keys | AWS API, CLI, SDKs and CloudFormation |
| Webhooks | HMAC-signed webhooks with retries and a presigned download link, plus email | No webhooks. Upload events go to Amazon EventBridge; managed workflows run steps after upload. |
| Static IP and custom domain | Dedicated IP with ports 22 and 21, and your own domain, on Pro and up | Elastic IPs on an internet-facing VPC endpoint; custom hostname through Route 53 or other DNS |
| Team members | Unlimited members with owner, admin and member roles, 2FA | AWS IAM users and roles |
| Free trial | 7 days of Pro, no card | No Transfer Family free allowance listed on the pricing page |
AWS Transfer Family details are from their public website and docs as of October 2026. Prices exclude VAT and taxes.
Why teams switch from AWS Transfer Family.
A flat price
A server with SFTP, FTPS and FTP is €19 a month on Starter. No hourly endpoint fee per protocol and no per-GB transfer charge, within fair use.
Still your S3 bucket
Connect an S3 bucket with an access key limited to that bucket, and uploads land in it directly. Or use R2, B2, Wasabi or Hetzner and pay less for storage and egress.
Webhooks instead of plumbing
Get a signed HTTPS request with a download link on every upload. No EventBridge rule, Lambda or IAM role to wire up first.
FTP over the internet
Plain FTP is available on public endpoints for old scanners and ERPs that can't do anything else. On AWS, FTP only works inside a VPC.
Users in a dashboard
Passwords or SSH keys, per-user folders, quotas, permissions and bandwidth limits, managed by people who don't have AWS console access.
See what's happening
An activity feed, live connections with a disconnect button and a delivery log for every webhook, without setting up CloudWatch.
When AWS Transfer Family is the better choice.
You need AS2, Amazon EFS, or FIPS endpoints.
Your users have to authenticate against Active Directory, Okta or another identity provider.
The endpoint must be private inside your VPC, or everything must stay within your AWS account and IAM policies.
You need endpoints across several Availability Zones in a region of your choice, or AWS-only billing and compliance.
Questions about switching from AWS Transfer Family.
How much does AWS Transfer Family cost per month?
In US East, each enabled protocol costs $0.30 an hour, so SFTP alone is about $216 for a 30-day month. Uploads and downloads add $0.04 per GB, and S3 storage and requests are billed on top. Enabling FTPS as well doubles the endpoint fee.
Can CloudFile write into my existing S3 bucket?
Yes. Add the bucket with an access key that has list, get, put and delete on that bucket, and pick it for your server. Each SFTP user gets their own folder in it.
How do I get notified about uploads?
Add an event listener with a URL. On every upload, rename or delete that matches your filters, we send a signed POST with the file path and a presigned download link, and retry if your endpoint fails.
Can I keep port 22 and a fixed IP?
Yes. Pro and Business include a dedicated IP with ports 22 and 21, and you can point your own domain at it.
More in the docs: Quickstart · Your own bucket · API
How CloudFile compares with other options.
sftpcloud alternative
sftpcloud and CloudFile both give you hosted SFTP and FTP servers with your own storage behind them. CloudFile starts cheaper, doesn't cap SFTP users above Starter, and lets you automate everything over a REST API.
CompareCouchdrop alternative
Couchdrop connects SFTP to SharePoint, Google Drive and many other systems, with prices on request above its first plan. CloudFile does one thing: SFTP, FTPS and FTP servers on S3-compatible storage, with every price on the website and no transfer metering.
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